Mazen Alfarhan
It is over a decade since a US healthcare centre paid $200,000 in a malpractice settlement following the death of a 9-year-old Vietnamese girl. Admitted suffering from an infection, the girl was mistakenly administered Reglan, an anti-emetic not recommended for paediatric use. While the girl’s reaction to the medication ultimately caused her death, her chances of survival might have been better if the health centre had been able to communicate with her Vietnamese-speaking parents. In the absence of an interpreter, healthcare professionals had no option but to convey important information through their 16-year-old son.
This tragic case undoubtedly resonates with a 2014 article in American Family Physician that warns patients with limited English proficiency are less able to access health care, more likely to experience adverse effects from drug complications, and be misunderstood by physicians. To complicate matters, health services around the world often rely on bilingual or multilingual members of staff to fill gaps in translation services. No need to mention the perils and pitfalls of ‘just Googling it.’
In response, global calls for more interpreters and translators in healthcare settings have gained momentum in recent years. Indeed, these calls are by no means limited to hospitals, with medicine labelling, primary care and other health services in the crosshairs. Adding fuel to these demands is a 2017 University of San Diego study that identifies interpreting and translating as among the ‘top emerging careers’ worldwide.
Thanks to its vast and diverse expat workforce, the need for highly trained and experienced healthcare interpreters and translators in Qatar is particularly acute. In response to the myriad health challenges posed by workers from across the world an army of translation professionals is on constant standby to assist healthcare providers at the country’s medical facilities. Qatar’s health services also benefit from centres and programmes that focus on the country’s wider translation needs. The overarching aim of these initiatives is simple: to provide high-quality language support that takes into account often-subtle cultural differences.
Through its Translation and Interpreting Institute (TII), the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) makes a multifaceted contribution to the aforementioned mission. Staff members regularly translate consent forms and other medical documents, primarily into Arabic. The TII also provides relevant training and development for staff from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and the Ministry of Public Health. These courses help to bring some of Qatar’s most important interpreting and translating professionals up to internationally recognized standards. The University of Geneva validates all TII postgraduate programmes.
From a technological perspective, HBKU’s Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) has developed linguistic software that only enhances the country’s ability to provide interpreting and translating services where they are needed the most. QCRI Advanced Transcription System (QATS) uses state-of-the-art deep learning technologies to convert speech to text, including English and dialectal Arabic.
Its development resonates with the growing role technology plays in supporting healthcare interpretation and translation services around the world. Beyond making much-needed connections between patients and providers, these technologies also help to communicate the effects of medicines, what to expect from medical procedures, as well as simplify often-complex terminologies. They also make a significant contribution to patient satisfaction and trust in health services.
Unsurprisingly, North America and Western Europe lead the way in the use of these technologies, with remote translating services a common feature in many healthcare settings. Like other parts of the Middle East and North Africa, Qatar is also determined to incorporate more of these applications into its health services. The country’s commitment to developing high quality healthcare interpreting and translating also has a global component.
Last October, the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), an initiative of Qatar Foundation (QF), published the first-ever Arabic version of a manual used by doctors to treat children injured by explosives in conflict zones. Originally published by the UK-based Save the Children, the Arab language edition of Paediatric Blast Injury Field Manual is now in the hands of healthcare providers in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen. For its part, the TII has translated the Interpreters Manual in Healthcare into Arabic. This document is now included on the University of Geneva Hospitals website, a highly influential resource accessed by professional interpreters working with refugees and internally displaced persons.
Given their growing importance in healthcare settings around the world, it is perhaps surprising that interpreting and translating services remain susceptible to criticism and cynicism. For instance, cost-cutting health providers often question the financial value of using these services, both on an ad-hoc and regular basis. However, given the health sector’s enduring commitment to improving quality of lives through cutting-edge treatment and technologies, this argument is undoubtedly counterintuitive.
Then there is the small matter of culture. While translating technologies might succeed in conveying a message from doctor to patient, it is unlikely local dialects, semantics and other linguistic challenges were taken into account during the development stage. Put simply, tech-savvy interpreting and translating solutions lack the human element, which in turn risks important information being ‘lost in translation.’ Interpreting and translating services with a human face will undoubtedly be important at the 2022 Football World Cup, when supporters from around the globe will to travel to Qatar.
Accordingly, the need for ‘professional’ healthcare interpreters and translators should never be underestimated. There is a widely held belief nowadays that anybody capable of speaking more than one language is, in effect, a fully qualified interpreter and translator. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Professional translators go through years of rigorous training designed to ensure accurate comprehension and delivery of their services. This need for accuracy and clarity is something they share with the health sector and other professions where mistakes often cost lives.
Mazen Alfarhan is a reviser and trainer at Translation and Interpreting Institute (TII) which forms part of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).
